YouTube Kids Kicks Off Global Initiative w/ HarperCollins, Universal

Publishers including HarperCollins, Penguin Random House and Houghton Mifflin are collaborating with YouTube Kids on a global initiative called #ReadAlong month. The month-long program, which launched today, aims to help young readers hone their reading skills as well as encourage a lifelong passion for reading.

The #ReadAlong campaign on YouTube Kids has inspired major publishers to create digital content that not only helps kids learn to read, but also shows them why it’s fun. Houghton Mifflin has published a playlist of fairytale videos that features screen text and voiceover so that kids can listen to a narrator while reading along themselves. HarperCollins has created a new Kid Critic series, which features book reviews for kids, by kids. This initiative also features other global entertainment brands who have created content aimed at encouraging kids to get reading including Universal’s Despicable Me Minions and NFL star, Martellus Bennett.